Queer Vryburg Oral History Project

EDITION

2025, Shortlisted

school

Market Photo Workshop, Johannesbourg, South Africa

links

@karabo_moeti_sa ↗

The Queer Vryburg Oral History Project is an ongoing initiative (2024–2025) that combines photography and interviews to document queer experiences in Vryburg, a small town in North West, South Africa. Developed through collaboration with queer individuals from rural and small-town communities, the project aims to highlight and question the visibility of queer lives beyond urban centres. This photographic series features queer men in their 40s, photographed in their personal environments. It explores how their sexuality shapes their identities and examines the social and economic challenges they face. The work also delves into their relationships with their parents and broader society. This project is deeply personal to me. I grew up in Vryburg, a small town with little space to explore or understand my sexuality. Moving to Johannesburg to study photography was a turning point, a journey to better understand my identity. The city felt unfamiliar and overwhelming at first, especially encountering urban queer communities so different from what I knew. I had to confront and unlearn my own internalized homophobia, even as a queer person.
Discovering the work of artists like Zanele Muholi helped me reflect on my own surroundings and experiences. Later, Sabelo Mlangeni’s Country Girls became especially meaningful to me—it was one of the first times I saw rural queer lives documented in a way that resonated deeply. Initially, I wanted to focus on queer youth from small towns, but many were hesitant to participate due to safety concerns. This led me to start with older queer individuals, whose stories are often erased both in their communities and in broader narratives. My work seeks to highlight the complex relationship between queer identity and place—how it is shaped by both rural and urban experiences, and the need for greater representation in the archives.